From the court files in the New York v. NRA lawsuit, dated in May, 2019, in the first month after the scandals began to break.
A new Facebook group, NRA Members For Accountability, had been founded, and LaPierre’s defenders on the board were scoping it out. The email chain begins with a message that the FB Group has over a thousand likes, and “Several more Board members – Schneider, Brown, Maloney – have Liked the page to join Johnny Nugent, Liptak.”
Charles Cotton responds “we need to reconsider Nugent’s committees.” (On the board, committee assignments are all-important, and the dissenting directors would later be stripped of all assignments.)
Marion Hammer adds, “Please keep a list – there’s more than one kind of accountability.”
Cotton notes, “We also need to discuss Esther’s defamatory statements about the NRA’s president and first Vice President.”
Millie Hallow chimes in: “Who is close to Johnny so we can get a better feel?” (That is, get one of his friends to spy out his feelings and report).
In light of the current “official position” (or is it “revision”?) that NRA leadership was already working on a “360 review,” a “change of course,” and reforming, it’s obvious that was never the case. As soon as the scandals began breaking, the board’s insiders reacted by spying on and penalizing board members who were suspected of supporting reform.
NRA in Danger 
I wonder what other nuggets are waiting to sprout that document the lies the cabal told the board and the members.
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Sad that nothing has appeared to change.
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There is a word that applies to the NRA board and officers who tried to hide the mismanagement and lawlessness at NRA: DESPICABLE.
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I’ve always found it interesting how the brass balled rock star, Ted Nugent, who speaks his mind about EVERYTHING, has NEVER said anything about the NRA corruption and quietly resigned a couple years ago from the board, and became spokesman of some hunters group. I wonder what skeletons he has in his closet?
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$50k he received for a performance. His lawyer probably advised him he was heavily exposed as part of the corruption. Just one of the insider deals with Board members.
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At the Members’ Meeting in Tucson in 2020, I introduced a resolution calling for the membership present to advise the Board that Executive Sessions are supposed to be the exception, not the rule, and calling on them to limit Executive Sessions to only those things that actually require some privacy, such as individual personnel matters and legislative or judicial planning.
I didn’t know about this communication, but was frustrated by the fact that the Board went into Executive Session in Indianapolis in 2019 for several hours, including the election of officers.
When I introduced my resolution, Board members lined up to argue that they already limit Executive Sessions to discussions of particularly sensitive topics, and that they didn’t need the members telling them how to run their meetings. They suggested I was just a troublemaker trying to generate things to be angry about… The resolution was either tabled or referred to a committee of the Board to never be seen again. In Tucson, thanks to COVID, there were so few regular members present that the audience was dominated by Board members, their spouses, friends, and NRA staff members. No chance of winning any argument with a house stacked like that.
These documents prove that I was on to something, but ask almost any current Director and they’ll tell you I’m just a malcontent trying to tear down the NRA.
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just an observation on Ted Nugent above
I heard Tom Grisham school Ted on a podcast and noted he resigned a week later
and I read an Ammoland article a couple weeks ago and they listed all the qualifications and celebrity needed to be leader of NRA and he checked all the boxes for this , do not recall the author
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Sadly it appears that these leopards can’t or won’t change their spots. Dissenting Board members are still punished with removal from their committee assignments. I have been told that one who abstained from the by-law amendment that gave Mr. Cotton a 3rd year as president was removed from her committees. The whip (Marion) is still active. It appears that the President continues to use intimidation tactics to suppress dissent rather than encourage the board members to express their concerns without fear of reprisal. I will probably still be called names. (Sticks & Stones) The concern I have is the”39″ (board members) will work to captain the ship as it sinks into financial ruin. Every NRA member has an opportunity to address the officers and board members and the member’s meeting in Dallas 5/18 at 10:00 am. It could be now or never.
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NRA members can let their voices by heard by sending letters or emails to the directors. The list of directors is near the back of your NRA publication. Be sure to include your NRA member number and contact information, otherwise the messages won’t be passed on. Buz Mills has called on all NRA members to tell the directors how we feel about the EVP selection process, and other issues. I sent the following email to most of the directors (I won’t waste my time talking to the cabal currently trying to rig the process).
“Dear (director’s name),
I am a Patron Life member of the NRA (member #*********) who is deeply concerned about the announced process for selecting the NRA’s next Executive Vice President. Today I received news the Executive Search Committee appointed by President Cotton is having a meeting in Atlanta on April 27, 2024 to which all of the former presidents of the association have been invited to appear and give insights. It appears the process is both being rushed, and again intended to exclude, or at least limit, the voices of the Board of Directors, and more importantly, the members. The NRA has suffered a very severe injury due not only to the criminal acts of several of its executives and employees, but also by the acts of a small group of directors who failed in their fiduciary and ethical responsibilities to report the documented abuses of authority and conflicts of interest to the full Board of Directors. From my perspective you should be furious. I am.
From a member’s perspective the elephant in the room is the general perception by people both inside and outside the NRA that it is an organization riddled by corruption and insider dealing. I have had conversations with a couple of directors who have complained the general perception is every director is “on the take”. While that perception is neither fair or accurate, it does seriously impact peoples’ willingness to join or rejoin the NRA. About two million of our former members have already spoken loudly on this perception by leaving in disgust. You should be seriously concerned about that. If I were not already a Patron life member, I would have joined them. I have ignored the many invitations to become a Benefactor member because I am unwilling to pour even more money into a criminal enterprise that not only stole many millions of dollars through insider deals, but then wasted tens of millions more to defend that criminal behavior. The process currently being pursued to select a new EVP simply reinforces the perception that a small group of insiders is manipulating the process, by employing tactics which largely excludes director and member participation, for their own personal agenda.
From this member’s perspective the selection of a new EVP should be through an outside executive search firm to broaden the candidate pool as wide as possible, followed by a thorough vetting process to select a handful of candidates to be presented to the full Board. The full Board should have adequate opportunity to review each candidate’s qualifications before a meeting to interview each candidate before a final vote. This process should be transparent so members can offer their input as well. There is no reason to rush the process. If the Executive Search Committee feels it necessary to hold a forum of former presidents, it should do so in Dallas where every director can attend and provide valuable insights as well.
In recent years I have spoken with several directors about NRA providing a venue at the Annual Meeting where members can engage in direct dialog with at least a handful of directors with questions, concerns, and ideas for making the NRA better. There are numerous meeting rooms allocated for seminars and presentations. So I don’t think it is too much to ask that one of those rooms be allocated for one or two separate events for members to directly engage directors face to face. We are frustrated that our serious concerns about the very public revelations these past several years have largely been ignored.
I would appreciate a response to this correspondence. Thank you for taking the time to consider my concerns.”
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